- Usyk wins by 115-113 and 116-112; one judge has Briton up 115-113
- Joshua displays guts and aggression but champion fires back
Anthony Joshua’s attempt to become a heavyweight champion again, and subsequently fire himself into boxing’s history books, has been crushed. On a hot night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s city by the Red Sea, the 32-year-old was again defeated by the outstanding Oleksandr Usyk, and while he should take pride from putting up more of a fight than when the pair met in Tottenham 11 months ago it was, as most predicted, not enough for him to reclaim the WBA, WBO and IBF titles that the Ukrainian took from him.
Having won via a unanimous points decision in north London, Usyk’s win here came via a split decision, with two judges calling it in his favour with calls of 115-113 and 116-112. The other gave it to Joshua with a call of 115-113, which was somewhat curious but, equally, spoke to a display full of guts and aggression, just as Joshua had vowed would be the case having, by his own admission, made the mistake of trying to out-box Usyk in north London.